


Tough Love [Temp title]

by oozbub



Category: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (Video Games)
Genre: M/M, also fang is my friends character and as such this story is partially meant for them, also if you know anything about me you know i ship rook and trip, but i found out fang was available so now im a multishipper, so if you want a fic thats focused on the official operators themselves this isnt it, this is meant to exist in the tom clancy r6s universe but ocs are the main focus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:14:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24425608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oozbub/pseuds/oozbub
Summary: Nicholas is sent to scout ahead, and as per usual finds himself getting hurt. Fang comes to find him.
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [the lovely arty on discord](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=the+lovely+arty+on+discord).



> Please note: I do not speak Serbian. Translations had to be done through google translate (I apologize) but I hope that by keeping them simple and snappy, they don't sound too bad if they're off.

Trip had been shot his fair share, but damn if it didn't hurt just as much each time. His head was spinning from the pain- his scuffle with a terrorist earlier certainly didn't help his state. In fact, it had been what put him in this position in the first place.

He'd been sent ahead to scout out and trap the area while the rest dealt with the hostage, and had made quite a bit of progress, but the winding corridors and excess of dark corners had proved to be a challenge for him to quickly and thoroughly check. He'd managed to neutralize his assailant, but still sustained two shots when the bastard nuzzled his pistol right under the bottom of his vest.

Rounding the corner of a counter, he reminded himself this was the last of the room and took a breath to stabilize his shaking hands. Glass crunched under his boots, broken beakers splayed across the counters and floor, a few even in the sink.

Glass scraped behind him and he spun around, too slow as a knife plunged into the opposite side of his abdomen as the bullets. The terrorists head lined up with Trips muzzle and he was quickly dealt with, his body falling backwards and landing with a thump.

Trip found himself also stumbling backwards, vision swimming and mouth ajar. He wondered where the man had come from as he fell, but a far cabinet that hadn’t been open when he walked in answered his question quickly. He had begun to reach up for his radio when the door he'd come through bursted open, Fang stepping into the room, back hunched and eyes carefully scanning the environment.

“Fang..” Trip raspily called out, finally allowing himself to take his hands off his gun and apply pressure to his wound that didn't have a knife lodged in it.

Fangs eyes darted to the sound of Trips voice, feeling his hair stand up when he saw him. Even in the low light he could tell the state he was in, and a mix of rage and regret of letting him go alone washed over him. He approached Trip as he talked,

“Have they secured the hostage?”

A curt nod.

“Good… I've set up my traps, we should…” Trip let out a shaky breath of pain, “We should leave.”

Fang eyed him carefully, reaching for his radio and requesting a medic before carefully helping Trip up, back tucked under the larger man’s arm as he helped him walk back the way they came. Trip threw his last trap in the doorway as they walked out, hearing it drill itself in the wall as the door shut behind them.

“Even like this…” Fang mumbled, shaking his head slightly.

“If it can buy even five seconds of time, it's worth it.” Trip let out a hiss after his last word, even talking now showing to be a painful challenge. Fang noticed,

“Shut up.”

Trip was silent for a moment, then spoke up again, “W-Wait-”

“I said shut up. You're just hurting yourself.”

“No, we nee- we need to stop-” He was panting now, “I'm going to bleed out- I c- I can't keep m-moving-”

Fang bit his tongue- anyone else he would've told to tough it out, but multiple factors shut him up this time.

Instead, he led him to a close counter, helping him sit down behind it, eyes darting around and finally settling on Trip himself,

“Do you need anything?”

Trip shook his head, “Aside from an-n actual medic, no. I can't do sh-shit…”

A loud _snap_ from the room they came from interrupted their thoughts, Fangs head snapping to the door.

Trip watched him, “That was from the right d- right door in there.”

Fang fired through the door, wood splintering as bullets ripped through it. A cry cut short followed by the thud of a body was enough to convince Fang he was dead.

“You can tell?” Fang asked as he side-stepped, getting better vision of the door as well as closer to a pillar for cover.

“Yeah, they each snap differently… That's why they're color co-... coded.”

Another _snap_.

“Left.”

More shots, and another body crumpled.

A minute of silence and Fang felt himself getting antsy, gun still trained on the door as he waited, prepared. Another _snap_ came, yet Trip remained silent.

Fang glanced at him, breath hitching for a moment when he saw his head slowly lolling forward.

Remembering the last door had to be the one straight forward, he sprayed through the door. Yelps of pain told him he was safe to stop shooting a few moments later, and he focused more of his attention on Trip, strafing to gently kick his leg,

“Trip. Keep your eyes open. Help will be here in a moment.”

Trip let out a grunt as a response, peeling open his eyes slowly, “Huh?”

“Eyes open. We're almost out, моја љубав.”

“Okay… Yeah, good id- idea…”

Letting out a sigh of relief, he focused on the door once again. The crackle of radio static quickly stole his attention,

“напокон…” He mumbled, hunching his shoulder to better hear the instructions through the speaker.

Doc was entering the building as they spoke, in no more than a minute he'd reach them to stabilize Trip and extract them. Fang nudged Trips leg once again,

“Hear that?”

“Mhm…” He sounded even raspier, head starting to feel heavy once again as he struggled to force his eyes open. His head jolted up when Fang roughly kicked his leg,

“Stay awake.”

Trip nodded, managing to float by on the slight kick of adrenaline Fang had provided long enough for Doc to arrive.

Eyes glued to the door, Fang listened to the two as they talked.

“Give me a run down.” Doc said, placing his stim pistol next to him on the floor, hands coming to hover in front of his vest.

“Stab wound-” Trip pointed to his wounds accordingly, “Bullet wounds- Two of them, right next to each other. Di-Didn’t exit.”

Doc nodded, rustling through his vest for a moment, pulling out a temporary patch and tape. Trip watched him work quietly, moving his clothing out of the way as best he could.

“Fang.” Doc spoke up after a moment, “Be ready to move.”

Fang nodded, “Understood.”

Doc injected Trip with his stim pistol, quickly holstering it and helping the other man up as he stood,

“Time to move, Fang. You'll cover us?”

“Yes.” He trailed behind them, watching the door until they were far enough back he could turn. Right when he turned, he saw movement on the floor, the arm of an almost-lifeless terrorist raising his hand to grab Trips pant leg.

Fang wouldn’t have this, bringing his foot down on the terrorists head and swiftly putting a bullet in his neck.

“будала.” He said coldly, hesitating before lifting his boot with disgust and moving to follow his teammates.

-

Back at the temporary camp, Nicholas limped into the canteen, a hand gently resting on one of his bandaged wounds. He spotted Kosta in the corner, a smile spreading on his lips as he made his way over.

His smile faltered as he realized Kostas CTU-mates were with him, but shook it off and decided that wouldn't be enough to stop him. He had been wanting to thank him, but hadn't been able to find him ever since they got back. He also had a question for him.

He sat down across from Fang, decently distanced from the man he'd nicknamed Wei (much to his displeasure.) Kosta didn't so much as bat an eye at the new addition to the table, head down and eyes glued on his meal. Nicholas tapped in front of him,

“Earth to Kosta?”

Kostas head darted up, eyes coming to slowly meet Nicholas’s.

“Oh. I didn't see you.”

Nicholas chuckled, “Apparently not.” He glanced over to see the other two were staring at him. Had he not gotten used to people staring over the years, he'd probably be sweating bullets- though, their stares were strong enough it almost didn't matter.

“Anyway,” He cleared his throat, “I just wanted to thank you, for having my back out there. I'd probably be dead or nearly-so had it not been for you.”

“I was just doing my job.” Kosta grunted when Aca- better known as Nano- kicked his foot. He shot him a dirty look, and got an eye-roll in response.

_‘No you weren't… You were meant to stay with the rest of the team, extract the hostage with them.’_ Is what Nicholas wanted to say, but understood that Kosta wasn't likely the type to accept his thanks that way. Instead, he shot him another smile,

“Either way, I appreciate not being dead, so thanks for that.”

A brief grunt, and Kosta got another kick to the leg from Aca.

Nicholas quietly twiddled his thumbs for a moment, then remembered he had something else to mention, “Oh, also, I wanted to ask you something.”

“Hm? About what?”

“Back when I was having trouble staying awake, you nudged me and said something. It was uh-” He thought for a moment, trying to remember exactly how Kosta pronounced it, “ _моја љубав._ What's that mean?”

Kosta felt his arms stiffen, and his heart skipped a beat. Next to him, Aca stifled a laugh, and across from him Strahinjas eyes widened.

Nicholas was taken aback by their reactions, “Did- Did I pronounce it wrong?”

“No. And it means nothing. Don't worry about it.”

Nicholas’s face lightly flushed, “…Alright then. Well uh, I'm gonna go get my food.” He cleared his throat as he stood, thinking for a split second before giving a respectful nod and walking off.

Kosta was now left alone with his coworkers, to whom he immediately shot dirty looks at, “Don't even mention it.”

Strahinja simply smirked, giving a smack to Acas shoulder, “Wouldn't dream of it. Let's go, Aca.” He stood, taking his plate as well as his own.

“I'm not done with that.”

“Sure you are, come on.” He shot Kosta another look, “Have fun on your lunch date, Kosta.”

“It's not a fucking lunch date, магарац.” Kosta growled between bared teeth as the two walked off.

In the distance, he could hear Aca mumbling as he grabbed his plate back, “магарац is right, _магарац_.”


	2. Chapter 2

Nicholas soon returned with his food, much more eager to sit down now that the other two were no longer around to glare aggressively enough to make him want to crawl out of his own skin. He cautiously approached the table, tapping it a few times once he was close enough.

“Mind if I sit here, for real this time?”

“Go ahead.”

“Thanks.”

Kosta watched Nicholas settle into his seat, noticing the little nuances in the way he sat and held himself now. Hips uneven and back arched, it was clear he was still in pain and extremely cautious about not popping his stitches. Kosta pointed at him with his fork,

“Don't you have painkillers?”

“No, not anymore,” Nicholas cracked his knuckles, left hand returning to rest on the left side of his abdomen, “It's been a few days- the pain's subsided enough where I decided I'd rather be able to drink a bit than be on them.”

“Ah, makes sense.”

“Hey, so have you heard about how cleanup for our mission went?” 

Kosta shook his head, shoving a slice of meat into his mouth, “Not yet.”

“Apparently,” He grinned, “You took out the most dangerous ones. Most of the details are classified, but they said the ones who tried to rush us would've likely taken out half the building had they actually seen someone. Thanks to your good aim and quick thinking, they didn't have the chance.”

“Just doing my j-”

“C'mon man, you don't gotta blow it off each time. You did good.”

Kosta didn't respond, instead hesitantly shoving more food into his mouth.

“Alright, you don't have to say anything, but how about we go out and get drinks later, as a celebration? My treat.”

Their eyes met, and eventually Kosta nodded. Nicholas lightly smiled, feeling a small bit of pride swell in his chest. It was funny how the slightest bit of progress made him feel so accomplished, and not just because Kosta was a tough one to crack- but also simply because it was Kosta he was making progress with.

“Well,” He started to stand again, “I ought to go now, I've still got a lot to do. See you tonight, around 7:30?”

Kosta was too busy staring in shock at Nicholas's empty plate to respond immediately- wondering how he managed to scarf it down so quickly. He managed to compose himself enough to tear his eyes from the tray and nod,

“Sounds good.”

-

Kosta was sitting at the bar half an hour early, nursing a light drink to pass the time. He quietly observed others in the bar, hand lazily holding his glass at its rim between sips.

Nicholas showed up only fifteen minutes later, instantly spotting the man on a stool and donning a surprised expression. He gave a half wave and made his way over, sliding onto the stool next to Kosta and quickly ordering a drink from the bartender.

Nicholas gestured to the drink in Kosta’s hand, “Getting started without me, I see.”

“As if you hadn't come here to do the same thing.” Kosta said with the drink now to his lips, taking a sip.

Nicholas chuckled, “I suppose you're right.”

The bartender slid Nicholas his drink, Nicholas giving a short nod and gulping down half the glass immediately. He let out a prolonged sigh, allowing himself to relax a bit as he leaned onto the bar.

“I assume you've missed this?” Kosta took another sip, shaking his nearly empty glass and deciding what to get next.

“Oh, just a bit.” Nicholas grinned, “It can just feel therapeutic at times… Reminds me of home.”

Kosta noticed a hint of sadness in his last sentence, raising an eyebrow, “Somehow you don't sound happy about that.”

“I just miss my old job sometimes- my old team and being able to see my family basically whenever I wanted.” He took another swig, avoiding eye contact as he spoke.

“Family? Like, spouse and kids, or…?”

“No, no, hell no. I'd never have taken this job if I were married, much less with kids. I just meant my moms, my grandparents- other relatives and such.”

“Ah, I see.” Finishing off his drink, Kosta stared into the empty glass for a moment, “You were a firefighter before Rainbow, right?”

That was enough to get Nicholas to down the rest of his cup,

“Yup, and I’ll hopefully get to go back to it someday. Anyway,” He cleared his throat, signalling to the bartender, “We're not here to talk about me- we're here to celebrate your damn fine work.”

“In that case, you said drinks were on you, right?” Kosta inquired, turning to the bartender, “I'll have the strongest, most expensive mix you've got.”

Nicholas glanced at his phone and shrugged, putting his glass on the counter, “Hell, make it two.”

“Hah, who texted you to get you to decide that?”

Nicholas slid his phone to Kosta, showing a new message from Strahinja, “He must think I'm your babysitter. Haven't you got a phone?”

Kosta stared at the phone quizzically before leaning forward and taking his phone from his back pocket. He turned it on to find 5 new messages from Strahinja over the past two hours. He turned the phone to show Nicholas,

“I guess I don't pay attention to it much.”

Nicholas shook his head, chuckling lightly as he picked his own phone back up and typing, “And here I am paying for it.”

“Just ignore him. That's what I do sometimes, even when I see his messages.”

“Jesus no, have you seen the way that he looks at me? The man could turn me inside out just by giving me the stink eye.”

The bartender placed the newly made drinks on the bar between them, and Kosta gave him a grateful nod as he picked up his,

“Guess I should count my blessings, then. I forgot what it was like before he practically took me under his wing.” He took a sip, closing his eyes.

Nicholas was silent, also giving the bartender a short gesture of thanks but keeping his eyes glued on Kosta. He could only assume what he was thinking about, but he looked so peaceful, the exact opposite of the quiet, yet bold, and quite frankly- scary, persona he normally sported.

“Well,” Kosta took another drink from his glass, this one much longer than a sip, “I still say ignore him. You don't have to worry, I'll protect you.”

“Too late now but, is that a promise?” Nicholas put his phone back on the counter, leaning towards Kosta with a goofy grin.

Kosta rolled his eyes, turning away for a moment to hide his amusement, “I guess we'll find out.”

The two chatted the night away, talking about anything from their teammates to a frog they'd both spotted hopping around base. By the time 10pm rolled around, Kosta was many, many drinks in, and Nicholas- who’d nursed most his drinks after the first one- decided it was time to get home. He paid the hefty bill and helped Kosta out the door, the cold winter air feeling like a slap to the face.

Kosta didn't seem bothered, warm enough from the sweater on his back and the alcohol in his system. He murmured incoherently while tucked under Nicholas's arm, occasionally looking up at the taller man as they walked.

“You cold?” Nicholas asked, pulling him closer.

“Not at all. You're like a space heater.” He said, smiling as his face was gently pressed into Nicholas's side.

“Ah, good.”

“Are you cold?” Kosta’s voice was muffled, nuzzling his face directly into Nicholas's side now.

Nicholas suppressed a laugh, Kosta's nose tickling him, “A bit, but I don't mind.”

“Pick me up, you'll be warm that way.”

“You just want me to carry you.”

“Maybe,” Kosta purposefully misstepped, nearly falling over, forcing Nicholas to tighten his hold to catch him, “So what?”

Nicholas shook his head, chuckling as he stopped walking, “Alright, I’ll carry you.”

The two stopped walking, Kosta practically climbing into Nicholas's arms before he even extended them. He hung on tight, similar to a koala bear.

“You're surprisingly light, damn. Good to know if I ever need to carry you.” Nicholas noted, wrapping his arms around the much smaller man.

“Perks of being short.” Kosta nuzzled his head into the crook of Nicholas's neck, warming his nose that he didn't even realize was cold and giggling.

“What?”

“Your hand’s touching my butt.” He continued to giggle, apparently extremely amused.

“Would it kill you to be mature?” Nicholas chuckled, “If you want me to carry you like this, I have no choice. I could fireman carry you if you'd like, it's my specialty.”

“No, I don't mind.” He closed his eyes, “I kinda like it.”

He quietly laughed, the warmth of Nicholas and pattern of how he walked quickly lulling him to sleep.

-

Strahinja was waiting for Nicholas the moment he got back to camp, arms crossed to match his ice cold stare. Behind him, Aca was on his phone, looking like a bored teenager who was just dying to leave and go home. Strahinja didn't say anything as Nicholas approached him, which only made the hair on the back of Nicholas's neck stand.

“So uh, where's his tent?” Nicholas tried to ignore the look, unsure if Strahinja actually wanted something or was just checking in. Kosta told him he saw Strahinja as a dad, and vice versa, but Nicholas still couldn't tell exactly what he wanted.

He felt his shoulders relax when Strahinja pointed left, barely even hearing the directions and focusing more on making sure Strahinja knew he was listening. He saw Aca pop his head out from behind the taller man, looking Nicholas up and down before smirking in a way that certainly didn't comfort him.

“Well um, I ought to get him to bed now. Have a good night, and uh, thanks for the directions.”

“Good night, Nicholas. Take care of him.” Strahinja’s voice was oddly soft, giving Nicholas a nod and walking away with Aca.

Nicholas simply stood there for a moment, confusion clear on his face even when he started walking again.

He reached the tent quickly enough, letting himself in and walking carefully while trying to navigate the dark. He bumped against a cot, pulling the covers out of the way before laying Kosta down and tucking him in.

He turned to walk away when Kosta grabbed his hand,

“Don't… leave.”

“What?”

“Sleep here…”

“There is definitely no space on that tiny cot.”

“…” Kosta grunted in annoyance, still not releasing his hand, “Okay.”

“Kosta…”

“Yeah, yeah. You can go.”

“…You're still holding my hand, Kosta.” He paused for a moment, then leaned down, “Here.”

He gently kissed Kosta’s forehead, feeling his grip loosen afterwards.

“Does that satiate you?”

“Enough so.” He let go of Nicholas's hand.

“Good.” Nicholas stood again, gently petting Kosta’s hair before doing so, “Well, goodnight.”

Kosta mumbled a goodnight back, opening his eyes a crack to watch Nicholas leave the tent. In his barely conscious state he had just enough energy to curse the tiny cot before passing out.


End file.
